Wednesday, March 26, 2014

President Obama Calls for a Recommitment to Peace in Europe During his Visit to Flanders Field Cemetery in Belgium to Honor of Our WWI Soldiers

President Obama visits Flanders Field Cemetery with Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo of Belgium and His Majesty King Phillipe to participate in a wreath laying and tour the grounds.

Following the tour, the President, Prime Minister Di Rupo and His Majesty King Phillipe delivered statements at Flanders Field Cemetery. Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War I cemetery on the southeast edge of the town of Waregem, Belgium. This is the only American World War I cemetery in Belgium and 411 American servicemen are buried or commemorated there.

My Grandfather on Dad's side was one of the soldier's gased in WWI and died from that gasing when my Dad was five years old. I have a vase that he had engraved to my Grandmother that sits on our old German buffet that reads from Orie to Helen 1919 with roses on the vase. The very idea that the Germans used chemical weapons in WWI and were allowed to come back under Hitler in the 30's shows a reckless disregard for lives of our military from all nations who refused to stand up to Hitler. There is a huge difference between appeasement they did to Hitler and negotiations/sanctions being imposed by Europe and the United States on Russia. Shame some loud mouth Republicans cannot see the difference. How much money was made in Europe from Hitlter by Americans before WWII and was that a reason not to stand up to Hitler? Koch Bros Father was right at the top of that food chain from Hitler but so were others.

Unfortunately some of that mentality to rush into war still exists in the Republican Party with comments being made about Ukraine from McCain, Graham, and now Rumsfeld who takes the cake for sleaze since he was part of the rush to war in Iraq knowing a lot of the evidence they were using was false. He, along with Cheney, could have cared less they were sending young men and women to die in a phony war.

Today's Republicans have the class of a gnat or less. The crickets on the Republican side when remarks are made like Rumsfeld's paint a terrible picture of the lack of integrity in the Republican Party even today when we honor the men who gave their lives to defend the Belgian people. Shame on the so-called leaders of the Republican Party to allow these crass comments to go unchallenged. No wonder the Republican Party is beginning to show signs of disinergration with their lack of empathy and white males only matter mentality where they feel free to say anything they want no matter who gets harmed in the process. There are no repercussions for bad manners/lies in the GOP today -- everything is fair game.

Our family proudly stands with President Obama and his stance that you only send in your men and women to fight when you are left with no other option. Applaud the leaders of the G-7 who chose to not meet in Sochi, Russia, but meet in Brussels, Belgium, making it a G-7 not a G-8 meeting after Putin moved Russian troops into part of Ukraine. G-7 leaders standing together give me hope for the future they will put diplomacy over rush to war and use sanctions not weapons.

As our dead and wounded from WWI are honored today, we need to remember in war more then just the solder feels the pain as it extends to families and friends. My Dad grew up without a Father because of war. This Nation has paid a terrible price over the years when it has rushed into war and escalated when there was no need. We have to elect leaders like President Obama who will not be goaded into going into a war that could be catastrophic no matter how many names the Republicans choose to call him. President Obama is the adult in the group not the name callers!

President Obama invoked Canadian poem "In Flanders Fields" as a call for a recommitment to peace in Europe.